It's one of the best
The drama was amazing, both actors are talented. The plot in the novel seems light when i read it at first, and not long i felt boring. But in the drama despite following the same plot but ofc with some detail, they made it a drama i'm waiting for the new episode everyday. Their chemistry was just insane, how they look at each other was just full of love. Zhao jinmai is a really excellent actress, too bad that she wasn't as popular as other actress despite being a child-actress. Shine on me is one of the drama i will rewatch for the comfort it gives after AASOL which is also played by zhao jinmaiWas this review helpful to you?
A fluffy drama with great dynamics!
Shine on me gave me everything I ever needed in a overnight romance drama!! It's my second modern drama of 2025 and its such a good drama! The man leading weilong is such a Green flag and handsome as well,the Fl is pretty and did her role well since the drama revolved around her. The side characters zhuang xu,ye rong,Dr fang ad yin jie were all amazing! even their parents and Relations! I really can't get enough!!! I really love this drama,thank you Gu man!!💐❤️lastly,the drama is fluffy,gorgeous and has deep meanings even in flirting!!! Worth watching all round!!!
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Sweet but Slow and Overhyped
"Shine On Me" is a typical sweet C-drama romance, that doesn’t bring anything new to the table. I personally feel it’s been quite overhyped. Probably because of Song Wei Long’s visuals in a suit.If you're a fan of slow, sugary romance dramas with seemingly unnecessary characters, this one might be right up your alley.
The show starts off extremely slow—almost like a slice-of-life narrative. It lingers on conflicts that feel underdeveloped as the show progresses. The focus is primarily on our female lead, whose frustrating communication style detracts from the story. Her unrequited love for Zhuang Xu feels like it drags on for too long and for no particular reason, except for him being her unrequited crush. Honestly, if you haven’t had an intimate relationship with someone, why take years to move on? Maybe I’m just too Westernized, but this aspect felt unbelievable to me. And I’m absolutely fine with suspending my belief where it’s needed. I get what fiction is. I don’t watch romance for reality.
Zhao Jin Mai, usually praised for her acting skills, appeared somewhat unfocused in her role. At least at the beginning. She’s cast as an assertive and hardworking young woman with a family from a wealthy background, yet her behavior at times didn’t align with this characterization. The dialogue, especially between her and some other characters revolving around her in the first half of the drama, suffers from awkward pauses that made it seem as though the actors were struggling to remember their lines, which was frustrating. I get it. This was way of directors to show the characters and who they were at the beginning of their journey, but it made them look like they were teenagers instead of college graduates.
On the other hand, Song Wei Long certainly looks great in a suit. However, some of his early scenes seemed strangely mechanical, almost as if he was still rehearsing. By the later episodes, the acting improves significantly, which makes me wonder if it was a directing issue.
There are far too many characters introduced in earlier episodes, many of whom end up as mere afterthoughts rather than having substantial storylines. For example, Xi Guang’s college friends and even Zhuang Xu had screen time that was wasted, particularly when he spent far too long just staring out a window. If the writers chose to give characters like them significant screen time, they should have crafted deeper narrative for them. I think they did try, but Zhuang Xu had so much screen time and there are minutes and minutes of him just drinking and remembering the past. Writers should have given him a better, more rounded story. He should have gotten a love of interest for himself at the end.
As for romance, prepare for an extreme slow burn: it takes 25 episodes just for the couple to hold hands after they decided that they want to be together, and even longer for a proper kiss. The sweetness of the romance is undeniable, but the pacing makes it tedious at times. And to be honest, the issues I had are mostly with the first 20 episodes of the show. After that, the pacing and the storyline picked up and the acting was a lot better. Also don’t worry, even though the romance is very slow, they catch up in the last few episode. There’s plenty of really great kissing.
The family conflict could have been introduced earlier. Because once it came into the picture, the show felt more interesting. The stakes becamea lot more interesting as opposed to the episodes in the drama when we had Xi Guang try to get over some guy whose hand she’d never held when such a sweetheart of a man was right in front of her, ready to give her the world. Sometimes I wanted to scream at her: girl, are you stupid?
"Shine On Me" isn’t a horrible drama. I liked it. But again it wasn’t anything special to think about for days after you finish watching. It lacks the cinematic flair to make it a standout. The cinematography is just okay, with some bland color choices. The main couple is charming, but the unnecessary screen time wasted on unimportant plot points diminishes the overall experience. The happy ending is sweet and swoony, and honestly, I found myself needing a couple of attempts to finish the final episode. If you enjoy clean, sweet romance without the angst, this may be for you. I think the writing could have been better and if they were different choices made when it came to the script, I would have loved it a lot more.
I know a lot of people love this drama, but in my opinion, it’s is overrated and doesn’t deserve its high rating. For me, "Speed and Love," "The First Frost," or "Hidden Love" are by far better-written romances with the better central conflict.
PS I skipped a lot of scenes, in particular the ones with Xi Guang and her coworkers. And I did not miss a single thing.
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1
1Cute and Fluffy romance between two Green Flags, but don't expect a lot of Excitement and Twists
“Shine On Me” is either going to be one of the most romantic and sweetest dramas of the year, or one of the most boring ones. In order to enjoy this, you need to check your mood for what you are looking for, and know what to expect.This is best enjoyed if you are looking for:
1. Main romance without a lot of ups and downs, or angst
2. Visually pleasing and great-looking leads
3. Great chemistry between the leads with decent skinship (love the hand-holding when pushing the grocery cart) and good but not amazing kisses (if you are patient enough to wait for them to happen eventually)
4. Sweet and witty banter between the main leads
5. Super green flag perfect ML who only has eyes from FL from start to finish
6. FL who is not afraid to speak her mind, stand up for herself and others, and pretty much a green flag herself (except when dealing with 2ML early on, but still more interesting than green flag ML).
7. Sweet and supportive family relationships: ML and his mother, ML and his grandfather, FL and her mom and extended family, FL and her cousin (my favorite character of the show).
8. Great co-workers
9. Strong women, whether you like them all or not - FL, FL’s mother, ML’s mother, FL’s aunt, the evil ‘villainy’ other woman, and even 2ML’s co-worker Chris.
10. The Photovoltaic Industry and all the business talk (LOL)
I love all the above except for #9, the photovoltaic industry. It is just not an industry that I know of or interested in learning. The drama spends a lot of time in this business world, but this industry is just not the right one for a drama adaptation. It might be better in the novel. The industry can’t really show us anything in action ,e.g. aerospace in “Your Are My Glory” with space ships and ties to ML’s character). It doesn’t sound or look good, e.g. the voice industry in “Love You, Love My Voice” and I love learning about the voice industry. Even the more boring traditional Chinese medicine in “The Best Thing” was more interesting, because ML actually uses TCM to flirt with FL and I found that romantic (though not super professional…LOL). “Shine On Me” really doesn’t hide Chinese propaganda in showing their photovoltaic industry to the world. Maybe that’s how they pass censorship or obtain a lot of sponsorship to fund the project.
I enjoy the slow burn main romance and how FL slowly falls in love. I think because of they are smart individuals despite new to love, they are not shy and naive. I love their flirting before becoming an official couple. Every single scene they are in, before and after being in a relationship, brings a super silly grin on my face. I just can’t stop smiling. I probably really enjoy this because I was intentionally seeking for a romance like that. Otherwise, as with many criticisms, the romance is somewhat smooth sailing that it can be boring. The super green flag ML is too perfect. You can have a green flag without making him into a boring character. Thank goodness he can flirt and has some witty comebacks. The love triangle lasted way too long. The 2ML’s storyline drags all the way to the end. I’m glad FL finally gave him a piece her mind and set him straight, I just wish it was done earlier and not drag for too long. But then, we have 36 episodes to fill. I personally don’t see 2ML as a handsome guy, but I do understand why ladies would find him attractive because he’s smart and hard-working. He’s just an expert in slimy Tai Chi - deflecting and not confirming his emotions to anyone until it’s too late for all parties involved.
The whole other family drama about FL’s parents and the ‘villains’ added a little extra ‘fun’ to the drama. Otherwise, “Shine On Me” is really boring. Yes, I do find these ‘villains’ annoying and I actually wanted a worse ending for them. It was sooo satisfying seeing FL finally said what she had to say to her father and defending her man and his integrity at the same time.
Because I know what I am getting myself into when watching “Shine On Me” and I really want a cute and fluffy drama, I had a great time watching it. It satisfies my cravings and I will recommend this to you if you like all or most of the items I listed above. However, I think of the 3 other fluffy dramas I listed above, this might be my least favorite of the 4, even though I LOVE the leads and romance. The business part is just too boring for me. If you want a twist-and-turn plot with excitement and chaos all the time, it’s best to skip this. Otherwise, you would be bored out of your mind.
Completed: 1/13/2026 Review #660
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1This review may contain spoilers
Not for me
I love all Song Weilong's dramas so far and was very excited for this one. Maybe this is the reason why I'm so disappointed. Especially after Everlasting longing.This drama should have been 16 episodes at maximum. 3 out of 5 episodes there's absolutely NOTHING happening.
First half is quite good, I was glad it is not as much oriented to work but after the mountain trip it goes stright to office/work hell. Lol.
I mean, I spend my whole life working, don't wanna watch it in drama. Gimme a break.
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Simply beautiful.
I was in the mood for a calming romance and found this gem! i'm not really a fan of watching dramas on-air, as it makes me furious sometimes to wait but with this one, it's worth the wait.it's not one of those glamorous romances, as it's slow-burn. the whole drama revolves around LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.
The leads both are green flags. their Love is no pushy or forced and all you see is Respect between them. both have baggages from their past that they must resolve first.
The production, development, music, etc are all decent. It's not cringe worthy at all!
yet after waiting and watching the whole drama, i have a negative point to add. I know how slowburns are yet this drama dragged for too long and we got to see the leads together and intimate in the last 10 eps. almost 30 eps of development and them being together only on the last eps. that's a bummer really. I kinda lost interest and had to force myself to watch even though i loved this drama from the beginning.
all in all, a very slowburn romantic drama with cute visuals!
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What's this drama even about?
I just finished this drama and I’m genuinely confused about whether it even had a plot. I haven’t read the novel, so I don’t know how faithful the drama is to it, but it started off promising and then went downhill fast. The main misunderstanding turned out so ridiculous that it barely justified anything that followed. The whole leaving medicine to do something completely unrelated arc felt pointless. He could have just been her manager with a past connection and the story would have stayed exactly the same.Once they became a couple, it was peak cringe. The male lead felt like an overly performative green flag rather than a real person and I love green flag MLs in C-dramas....
The last four episodes had no plot, just stretched-out fluff and unnecessary additions like the marriage/kid storyline. Acting was mid overall, and honestly the only reason this drama has a good rating is probably because of the cast. Even after finishing it, I’m still wondering what this drama was actually about.
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The Warm Romance on Winter
Shine on Me follows a former neurosurgeon who becomes a solar energy executive and a bright young graduate who meet as office mate at a photovoltaic plant, gradually healing each other's past wounds and becoming each other's sunshine.I love the story, from the beginning till the end. Even though many people said the early episodes are boring, I actually enjoyed it. My favorites are the Shanghai wedding arc, I really loved their interactions and banters on those episodes.
Strangely, though, I felt less chemistry once they officially dating. Some moments felt a bit bland to me, including the kiss scenes. I also felt that the male lead’s acting lacked detail in certain scenes, though it wasn’t bad overall. The soundtracks wasn’t very memorable for me either.
Overall, I still love the storyline and how most of the characters were written.
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Too focused on Industry Detailed
I was excited at the beginning but it disappointed me. I think the drama may be targeting the prestigious award ceremonies fulfilling the requirements of patriotism, social responsibility by heavily focusing on PV industry, and national policies/development. I am not against dramas that motivates the young generation by including them to some extent. But this drama pays too much attention to those details than acting depth or script quality. It became boring after sometime even being someone interested in Science and Tech. I continued the drama because of Zhao Jin Mai's acting but wasn't thrilled by Song Weilong's acting this time. They are replying on his handsomeness and idol figure rather than quality of acting. He wasn't expressive nor natural most of the time. Finn Hann (Xi Guan's cousin) and Lai Wei Ming (second ML) performed very well for me. Xi Guan's cousin was my favorite character in the entire drama.The thing I liked most is the skiing location which is really beautiful.
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quantity > quality
Maybe I've watched too many other shows recently that have particular outstanding qualities not found here.Maybe when I go into a drama with big expectations, I always get disappointed.
Or maybe when it's Gu Man, I see various Gu Man things that I'm not the biggest fan of (China #1: either China goes to Mars or develops leading hightech breakthroughs or whatever, patriotic Chinese researchers are leading the field in other countries but return to China to advance their homeland, the Chinese government has oh-so-many initiatives that are oh-so-perfect, and some snide remarks that white people food is inedible and inferior unless it's a sponsor in the show), or how she covers at least three industries... but that brings me to my actual complaint.
For me, Shine On Me has too much quantity over quality.
Recently I've felt a bit underwhelmed by how few songs My Page In The 90s makes do with (3-4). Meanwhile, Shine On Me has 17 songs (seventeen!!!). Of those, I like about... one and a half. Even the Liu Yu Ning song is in the bottom third of Liu Yu Ning songs. It's played exactly once, and then thrown in once more at the very end when the producers realize they paid for a lot of songs so they might as well use them all again. Chen Xue Ran this is not.
Character-wise, the quantity onslaught starts with her college roommates in the first episode. For some reason, she doesn't have the standard assignment of four girls in one room, but we instead get six. Then for an extra flimsy reason, they're 'paired' with a room of another six guys. At work, a female lead in a drama is guaranteed one best friend by law, but this one has at least three of them.
We have a mostly useless SML. After he served his purpose, he still gets a decent *quantity* of appearances. But not only that, he also gets a whole boatload of own side characters. They all have names, they all get scenes. But it's so low-effort that two girls with no differentiating features are called 'Min' and 'Mia'.
Even the (fortunately largely ineffective) villains come in groups. Typically they're delivered as a set of three. I find it a bit problematic how the show propagates the idea that the children of selfish and mean people are themselves bound to be bad human beings, but this is going too far off topic.
Other than the FL's cousin Jiang Rui, who stood out in some way in nearly all of his scenes, none of the side characters in SOM were consistently good / entertaining. A bunch had their moments, like particular small mini arcs or scenes in which they stood out, but ... I just came from rewatching another show after two years where all (!) the side characters had stayed somewhat memorable and felt much more like real people than random characters. It doesn't help that Gu Man or the other screenwriter sometimes override some random character's personality and literally just put words into their mouth to replace having a narrator.
I'm still not sure if I find Shine On Me a bit meh because my other recent shows just had *cuter* cute scenes of the leads being cute together, or all the other stuff in-between just wore me down.
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I Promise You Won't Experience Second Lead Syndrome
I needed another calm drama like Road Home (real life has provided plenty of angst lately, thank you very much), and this featured the same actress (and snow) of Amidst a Snowstorm of Love, which was just about as chill as it gets. Oddly enough, like Road Home, Shine on Me had attractive snow scenes and rugged desert scenes.The Good:
• There were beautiful visuals: plum blossoms, canal scene, ski resort lit in the dark, sweeping desert vistas, and Shanghai neon shining at night.
• FL's younger cousin was a delightful addition. He was sweet with just the right amount of ornery. Their interactions felt authentic. Although they teased one another unmercifully, it was always apparent they cared about each other.
• The OST complemented the drama excellently. The lyrics were on point, and the music was fitting.
• The snow figurines were darling.
The Bad:
• The last two episodes could have been squished into previous episodes. I didn't need the time skips. As the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon, I really didn't need all the lovey-dovey stuff at the end.
• Entitled one-sided loves who don't know when to give up are tiresome. And is it really love if you don't trust or believe in that person?
• Some characters faded away with no further mention of them.
I added an extra half star for the younger cousin. Finn Han's acting was natural and appealing. He made a small role memorable.
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Strong Beginning, Potential Wasted by Editing and Pacing Issues
Shine On Me starts on a very strong note. Many departments are genuinely well done—the story is engaging, the characters are established clearly, and the emotional setup works. The early episodes are especially enjoyable, pulling you in with solid writing and a promising narrative direction. At its best, the drama shows real potential.However, the biggest issue lies in the execution, particularly the editing. It is easily one of the weakest aspects of the show. Several episodes feel unnecessarily stretched, and two to three episodes could have been trimmed without losing any impact. The final episode, in particular, drags far more than it should. With tighter editing, the drama could have been far more effective and impactful.
The VFX is another noticeable drawback. The green-screen work is poorly executed and, at times, unintentionally laughable. Using green screen isn’t the problem—using it carelessly is. In today’s time, budget constraints can’t really justify such subpar visual execution. These technical flaws may seem small, but they slowly chip away at the viewing experience.
The performances in the last episode feel noticeably forced. The characters are meant to be in their late 30s, yet neither their appearance nor their behavior convincingly reflects that. It doesn’t align with the characterization built earlier, making it feel as though the characters haven’t aged at all. The interactions involving the child also come across as awkward and unnatural, which further weakens the emotional impact.
The drama would have benefited greatly from giving more focus to the supporting characters we’re already familiar with. Instead, several scenes are stretched for five to six minutes simply to fill runtime. The lack of substantial content becomes obvious, the pacing suffers, and what starts as dialogue-driven storytelling quickly turns monotonous.
I may sound harsh, but that’s largely because the latter episodes significantly affected my overall experience and rating. A drama needs to start strong, hold its ground in the middle, and end on a powerful note that stays with you. Unfortunately, Shine On Me falters at the end. The last couple of episodes go totally flat—predictable and underwhelming. The final episode, in particular, disappointed me in almost every aspect.
That said, I did enjoy the drama, especially the earlier episodes. It just didn’t meet the standard or potential I had hoped for, considering how promising the beginning was.
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